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Astrobiology: Can we detect life on a distant planet?

Astrobiology: Can we detect life on a distant planet?


Astrobiology: Can we detect life on a distant planet?

Speaker

Professor Sarah Rugheimer

Grade Level
11 & 12
Category
Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Physics & Astronomy

Talk Description:

This planet we call home is teeming with life from the very depths of the ocean where no light penetrates, to small brine layers between ice crystals and near-boiling iridescent waters of Yellowstone. As we discover the vast diversity of extremophile life on Earth, our minds can only begin to imagine the possibilities for life to exist on other planets in the Universe. In this talk I present how we are going to detect rocky planet atmospheres orbiting other stars with future telescopes, hopefully finding evidence of life in the Universe and answering the age-old question of "Are we alone?"